Nepra clears use-of-system charges for competitive power market

Read the original at Dawn ↗
Dawn · collected 2026-10-10 · by Khaleeq Kiani

Quick Summary

Nepra has set use-of-system charges for consumers participating in Pakistan's competitive electricity trading market, ranging from Rs6.23 to Rs19.62 per unit depending on consumer category and usage type. These charges apply to bulk power consumers including K-Electric and are intended to facilitate the launch of the Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Market (CTBCM), with the first auction expected within months for 400MW of electricity, part of a total government allocation of 800MW in two phases. The notification also sets higher rates for non-participating consumers, ranging from Rs19.17 to Rs32.56 per unit.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-10, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Nepra, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority in Pakistan, on Friday approved use-of-system charges (UoSC) for bulk power consumers participating in the competitive electricity trading market. The charges range from Rs6.23 to Rs19.62 per unit and include transmission and distribution costs, a fixed grid charge, and cross-subsidies. These rates will apply to consumers involved in the upcoming 400MW auction under the Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Market (CTBCM), allowing them to use the national grid for electricity transportation from suppliers to consumers at these additional costs. Presently, there are over 3,000 BPCs across Pakistan benefiting from this new regulatory framework.

Written for “Pakistan Power Market Reforms” on 2026-10-10, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.
No political leaning scored for article 69836 · logged 2026-10-10

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
30
claim-shaped sentences
Uncertain
7%
2 of 30 hedged
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Correction & hedging signals
71.2
corrections and hedging in what we collected; not a measure of accuracy
Outlets on this story
1
Economy/Business
Narrative spread
1
articles carrying this framing
Analyzed 2026-10-10 · how these are computed

Story

📰 Pakistan Power Market Reforms
Economy/Business · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.

Publisher

Dawn · 1409 article(s) · 3 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 3 correction(s)
2026-10-07
POLICY: THE ISLAMIC DEBATE OVER CRYPTO
2026-10-01
Tennessee woman in hospital after execution 'failed': lawyers
2026-09-20
An eye on Balochistan border

Who wrote this

Khaleeq Kiani
28 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Under the Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Market (CTBCM), open-access consumers participating in the upcoming 400MW auction will have to pay Rs6.23 to Rs19.62 per unit to use the national grid for transporting electricity from the supplier to the consumer.
🔮 The World Trade Organisation on Thursday sharply raised its global trade growth forecast for 2026 — with merchandise trade riding the AI boom — and concluded that some nations, including Pakistan, were actually benefiting from trade disruptions amid the ongoing Middle East conflict in some ways.
🔮 Upon approval, Pakistan will have access to about $1bn (SDR 760 million) under the EFF and about $210 million (SDR 154 million) under the RSF, bringing total disbursements under the two arrangements to about $5.7bn, it said The two sides also concluded Article IV consultations, the IMF announced from Washington headquarters.
🔮 Pakistan’s ongoing talks with a visiting staff mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are set to conclude on a positive note later this week, paving the way for the disbursement of about $1.2 billion under two concurrent programmes — the $7bn Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the $1.4bn Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).
2026-10-06 · assertive framing · IMF talks likely to clear way for $1.2bn disbursement
🔮 C-5 is expected to be completed by 2030 and is China’s only ongoing nuclear new-build project abroad.
2026-10-05 · assertive framing · Nuclear power output rises 4pc to record high
🔮 It was also noted that power-sector circular debt could have declined further had K-Electric paid around Rs200bn on time instead of holding up disbursement through litigation.
🔮 Before the IMF executive board meets to process the $1.2bn disbursement and grant waivers for end-June 2026 slippages, the government may need to finalise a few procedural steps.
2026-10-01 · assertive framing · Revenue surge, subsidy plans sit well with IMF
🔮 The net additional debt this year would comprise Rs6.046tr of domestic borrowing and Rs813bn in external borrowing.
2026-09-30 · assertive framing · Public debt surges 76pc to Rs86.7tr in four years
🔮 The government on Tuesday announced that the general public would be allowed to trade government securities, including treasury bills and bonds, through the stock market as part of efforts to improve compliance under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme currently being reviewed by a visiting staff mission for the disbursement of around $1.2 billion.
🔮 On the successful conclusion of talks, Pakistan will be entitled to disbursement of about $1.2bn under the two programmes: $1bn under the EFF and $200 million under the RSF by the end of October or early November, but may require waivers from the IMF’s executive board for slippages on structural benchmarks.
Also by Khaleeq Kiani
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 28 articles by Khaleeq Kiani →

Topics

ISLAMABAD Ismo K-Electric Nepra UoSC

Subjects

Nepra ORG · 5× K-Electric ORG · 4× UoSC ORG · 4× Discos ORG · 2× Ismo ORG · 2× BPC ORG · 1× CTBCM ORG · 1× ISLAMABAD GPE · 1× The Independent System Operation ORG · 1× The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority ORG · 1×

Narrative

Nepra had forwarded its UoSC determination to the government for uniform application after considering the views of the power division, Ismo, K-Electric and BPCs on the mechanism for calculating and settling the charges, including inter-Disco differentials, cross-subsidies and transmission and distribution losses.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-10
🔮 Under the Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Market (CTBCM), open-access consumers participating in the upcoming 400MW auction will have to pay Rs6.23 to Rs19.62 per unit to use the national grid for transporting electricity from the supplier to the consumer.
2026-10-10 · Dawn
Nepra clears use-of-system charges for competitive power market · assertive framing

Claims (30 extracted, 2 hedged)

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Friday notified use-of-system charges (UoSC) ranging from Rs6.23 to Rs19.62 per unit for bulk power consumers (BPCs) of all distribution companies, including K-Electric, participating in the competitive electricity trading market. asserted
Authority → notify → market
Under the Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Market (CTBCM), open-access consumers participating in the upcoming 400MW auction will have to pay Rs6.23 to Rs19.62 per unit to use the national grid for transporting electricity from the supplier to the consumer. asserted
consumers → participate → consumer
The UoSC includes transmission and distribution charges, a fixed grid charge and cross-subsidy. asserted
UoSC → include → charges
A B-3 industrial consumer will be charged Rs6.23 per unit, while a B-4 industrial consumer will pay Rs9.09 per unit. asserted
consumer → charge → unit
These charges will be in addition to the electricity supply price, including generation cost, to be agreed between the private-sector supplier and the BPC. asserted
charges → include → supplier
The UoSC for C-3 and C-2 single-point distribution consumers has been notified at Rs14.95 to Rs19.62 per unit, while A-2 and A-3 general supply consumers will be charged Rs19.14 per unit. asserted
consumers → notify → unit
Agricultural consumers will pay Rs6.72 per unit. asserted
consumers → pay → unit
For BPCs not participating in the competitive wheeling auction, UoSC rates have been set significantly higher, ranging from Rs19.17 to Rs32.56 per unit, depending on the consumer category. asserted
rates → participate → category
In this category, B-3 and B-4 consumers will pay Rs19.17 and Rs25.45 per unit, respectively, while C-2 and C-3 consumers will be charged Rs31.30 and Rs32.56 per unit. asserted
consumers → pay → unit
A-2 and A-3 consumers will pay Rs32.08 per unit, while agricultural consumers will be charged Rs19.66 per unit. asserted
consumers → pay → unit
A fixed grid charge of Rs1 per kilowatt per month, based on sanctioned load, will also apply to both categories, irrespective of whether they participate in the competitive auction. asserted
they → base → auction
The commercial market operation date for the CTBCM had already been declared as Jan 22, 2026, with the first market auction originally scheduled for June. asserted
auction → declare → June
However, the auction was delayed because UoSC charges had not been determined and notified. asserted
charges → delay → ?
The notification of uniform UoSC rates for all distribution companies and K-Electric is intended to pave the way for the formal launch of the competitive wholesale electricity market. asserted
notification → intend → market
The Independent System Operation (Ismo), a new power division entity, is expected to auction 400MW of electricity in the first phase within the next couple of months. asserted
Operation → expect → months
The government has allocated a total of 800MW for auction in two phases. asserted
government → allocate → phases
Nepra had forwarded its UoSC determination to the government for uniform application after considering the views of the power division, Ismo, K-Electric and BPCs on the mechanism for calculating and settling the charges, including inter-Disco differentials, cross-subsidies and transmission and distribution losses. asserted
Nepra → forward → differentials
Under government directives, the impact of inter-Disco differentials arising from uniform UoSC rates will not be borne exclusively by wheeling consumers. asserted
impact → arise → consumers
Nepra had also circulated a draft adjustment mechanism for settling inter-Disco differentials among relevant stakeholders. asserted
Nepra → circulate → stakeholders
The regulator said the key principle was to ensure that UoSC applicable to open-access consumers remained equal to those applicable to similarly placed consumers of suppliers of last resort (SOLRs). asserted
UoSC → say → resort
Based on the transmission and distribution losses of individual Discos, Nepra determined a uniform loss factor of 8.04pc at the 11kV level. asserted
Nepra → base → level
For consumers connected at 132kV, it approved a uniform loss factor of 1.51pc, as proposed by the power division. asserted
it → connect → division
Nepra ruled that any additional charge required to cover differentials among Discos or K-Electric would apply to all consumers, including open-access consumers and those of SOLRs, thereby maintaining uniformity. asserted
charge → rule → uniformity
The federal government had earlier approved framework guidelines for the competitive wheeling auction of 800MW of electricity and for moving towards integrated energy planning across the country. asserted
government → approve → country
Under the framework, 800MW of generation capacity will be sold through competitive auctions for five years. asserted
800MW → sell → years
The quantum could gradually increase after the initial trial, subject to government approval. uncertain
quantum → increase → approval
Ismo will now hold the first 400MW auction under a process approved by Nepra a few days ago. asserted
Ismo → hold → Nepra
It is also expected to announce the auction calendar and detailed procedure shortly. asserted
It → expect → calendar
There will be no upper or lower limit on bid values, which will remain fixed for one year. asserted
which → remain → year
According to timelines set under the IMF programme, approval of the auction guidelines had been targeted for December, while approval of uniform wheeling charges by Nepra was due in January 2026. uncertain
approval → accord → January
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support